Edward Casey; Outspoken Executive Editor of Annapolis Newspaper

Edward D. Casey, 77, executive editor of the Capital newspaper in Annapolis from 1971 to 2001, died of heart disease June 29 in Columbus, Ohio, where he was attending a grandson's wedding.

Mr. Casey focused his staff exclusively on local news, a strategy credited with increasing the newspaper's circulation from 17,000 to about 48,000 by the time he retired. A tough competitor, he regularly passed along news tips to his staff that resulted in front-page stories.

"Those who knew Ed understood his insistence on truth and his fearless pursuit of wrongdoing," publisher Tom Marquardt wrote in a July 1 editorial. "Many politicians from mayors to governors felt the sting of his biting editorials, which left no one in doubt about how the scrappy editor felt."

One of his more renowned editorials came in 1998, when he called independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton, "evil, vicious, vindictive, sick and malevolent," and that was just the headline. The assessment prompted a torrent of phone calls, letters and subscription cancellations.

"Most people disagree with us," Mr. Casey told a Washington Post reporter at the time. "This is a very conservative county. Some people were just downright angry."

But at the same time, he said, "some people said it was the gutsiest editorial they've ever read in a small-town newspaper."

Many of his former reporters and editors went on to careers at major metropolitan newspapers, including The Post, the New York Times, the Baltimore Sun and the Boston Globe. Mr. Casey was a Pulitzer Prize juror and a former president of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, which inducted him into its hall of fame.

Edward Dennis Casey was a native of Binghamton, N.Y., and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University in New York. He served in the Army during the Korean War and graduated from the Armed Forces Public Information School in New York. He also attended Syracuse University's journalism school.

He started his career as a sportswriter and worked as editor of the Dover Advance in New Jersey before moving to the Capital in 1971.

Mr. Casey was co-founder and board president of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Boys and Girls Club. He was also a member of the Annapolitan Club, the Annapolis Yacht Club, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Jacqueline Casey of Annapolis; four children, Daniel F. Casey of Roanoke, Jeanne Titus of Bowling Green, Ohio, Edward J. Casey of Crofton and John W. Casey of Carmichael, Calif.; and 10 grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan